Izzie didn’t grow up privileged. She lived in Forest Park, in a trailer park with her mother. As a teenager, she worked as a waitress and had savings for college, but her mother spent most of the saved money on psychics, forcing Izzie to pay the bills with her own money.

At 15, Izzie became pregnant. She had to give her baby girl up for adoption in order to give her a better life. Because of her pregnancy, mothers made their children stay away from Izzie so she struggled to make friends.

At 18, saw the great escape and she left home. She paid for medical school by doing photoshoots for the lingerie company, ‘Bethany Whisper’.

When she started her internship, she just wanted to be a good doctor. She gave her blood, sweat, and tears to get into the Seattle Grace program. She starved her body in order to pay for the expenses, but nobody seemed to acknowledge that. The jokes weren’t funny, she took the money, her friends in her class didn’t know what to say.

But, things eventually got better. Her, you, and a few other people in your intern class became friends and moved into your mother’s old house. She realized, pages had turned with the bridges burned. Everything she had lost was a step taken forward, so she started to live in the moment. After all, she had no reason to be afraid anymore.